Author and public intellectual, Gurcharan Das is best known for a trilogy based on the classical Indian ideal of the goals of life. He studied philosophy at Harvard University and was CEO of Procter & Gamble India before he became a full-time writer. He writes a regular column for the Times of India, five Indian language papers, and contributes to international newspapers.

This crisis of authority does not have an easy fix

The sight of a weak prime minister humiliated
repeatedly by a coalition partner has been too much for most Indians. Time and
again Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of Bengal, has undermined actions of
Manmohan Singh’s government that were approved by the Cabinet and patently in
the nation’s interest. They have ranged from an agreement with Bangladesh over
the sharing of waters of the Teesta river, foreign investment in the retail
sector, a reformist Railway Budget, and more. The latest embarrassment has been
over the setting up of a counter-terrorism centre. Even the most avid supporter
of states’ rights does not want to see central authority paralyzed. Regional
parties pull the national coalition in all directions. Parliament is
gridlocked, unable to pass laws. Courts are dictating policy. Timid civil
servants are too scared to put pen on paper. Seeing this, people wonder how
could their proud democracy have come to this pass?

Many think that India is rising despite the state.
Hence, the saying ‘India grows at night when the government sleeps’. So, they
ask insistently, why do we need a bloated government with venal, unresponsive
bureaucrats and corrupt politicians? Prosperity is, indeed, spreading across
India even as governance failure pervades public life. But not having a state
is worse than having one. Even markets depend on the government to enforce
property rights, contracts, provide security of life and liberty. A state is a
precondition for a flourishing society and economy. Let’s not succumb to the peculiar
fantasy of the American Right that a nation’s success depends on keeping
government out of the way. And frankly, shouldn’t India also grow during the
day?

A successful
liberal democracy has three elements, says Francis Fukuyama in his sparkling
new book, The Origins of Political Order. It has a strong authority to allow
quick and decisive action; a transparent rule of law to ensure the action is
legitimate; and it is accountable to the people. Combining these three elements
is not easy. Our Constitution makers were so concerned with checks and balances
to prevent anyone in government from amassing too much power that it has led to
a system where no one has enough power to act. It takes eight years to build a
road that takes three years elsewhere; nine years to get justice rather than
three. An aggressive civil society and media are enhancing accountability, but
they also weaken the state’s ability to act. We have forgotten that the
government was created to take action.

The dilemma is that
the circumstances which encourage strong authority are opposite to the
conditions that promote civil society and democratic dissent. Hence, the sturdy
institutions of governance built by the colonial state gradually weakened after
Independence as government became accountable to the people. Last year the
Supreme Court, combined with pressure from Anna Hazare and the media, jailed a
few officials but this has also brought about paralysis in the bureaucracy.
Parties are inevitable in a democracy but they need to learn to cooperate and
not merely oppose. The Congress often behaves as though the party is more
important than the government. The BJP would do well to remember Arun Shourie’s
rule: never oppose anything that you would do in office.

In this depressing
scenario there is a silver lining, however. Power is shifting to the states
where strong, decisive leaders have emerged. Nitish Kumar, Raman Singh, Gogoi,
Modi, and Shivraj Chouhan are delivering good governance, attracting investment
and jobs. We may not approve of all their actions but they are partially making
up for a feeble Centre. Federalism is thus coming to our rescue. India’s
democracy doesn’t need a strong presidential state, as some have suggested. It
needs to decentralize even more. Some leaders of panchayats and zilla parishads
have shown great ability to take decisive, transparent action while reflecting
the peoples’ wishes. But in the end India cannot do without a central executive
whose writ is at least obeyed. Other nations have also faced this weakness from
time to time, but they were able to reform their institutions. India will need
a bit of luck to throw up a strong, courageous leader, who is willing to take
on vested interests and push through such institutional reform.

7 comments:

S.n.iyer
said...

It is not weakness of the executive, but a possible difference in perception by the party from the, actions of the Govt. it is easy for those not in the hot seat to be carried anyway by stray thoughts on 'Aam admi', to economic reality. Tough Situations require tough decisions. Andre Druze has dealt with this aspect recently in an article where he draws a line between right 'policy' and politics. Opposing right policy without debate and consensus is ruining the country. Politicians like Mamatha should be exposed when they do not understand what is right under the garb of populism.

This garb of federalism is only to look after regional interests over national interests. Most States in one way or another have created various problems and expect the Centre to come to their aid. Some have consistently used their own funds in indiscriminate ways and blame the Centre. All projects in Karnataka are only those supported by the Centre. High time the centre state issues are sorted out in national interests.

Ram Mohan Roy once said " just consider how terrible the day of your death will be, others will go on speaking and you will not be able to argue back". Like everything in India, politics also necessitates split personality but one peculiar trait of this so called disorder is that the one who displays it remains ignorant, i.e. the two traits shown are diverging in nature but in the case of MMS they seem to be converging. It appears as though he is writhing with an identity crisis and proxy management. By not retorting back isn't he questioning the inheritance of an argumentative tradition, is he dead ????

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About Me

Gurcharan Das is an author and thought leader best known for a much-acclaimed trilogy based on the classical Indian goals of the ideal life. India Unbound was on artha, 'material well-being'—the Guardian called it 'a quiet earthquake' – it is available in 19 languages and filmed by the BBC. The second, The Difficulty of Being Good, on dharma or 'moral well-being', is a contemporary meditation on the epic, Mahabharata. Kama: The Riddle of Desire is on the third goal, examining how to cherish desire in order to live a rich, flourishing life.
He studied philosophy at Harvard University and was CEO of Procter & Gamble India before he took early retirement at 50 to become a full-time writer. He writes a regular column for the Times of India and five Indian language papers, and contributes to many international papers. His other books include India Grows at Night: A liberal case for a strong state, which was on the FT's best books for 2013; a novel, A Fine Family; a book of essays, The Elephant Paradigm, and an anthology, Three Plays. He is editing for Penguin a 15 volume history series, The Story of Indian Business. He lives in Delhi.